Self-opening pull out letter



Nov. 2, 1965 w. ROSENTHAL 3,215,337

SELF-OPENING PULL OUT LETTER Filed 001?. 11, 1963 WALT/5E 505277735545 United States Patent Office 3,215,337 Patented Nov. 2, 1965 3,215,337 SELF-OPENING PULL OUT LETTER Walter Rosenthal, 740 West End Ave., New York, N.Y. Filed Oct. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 315,465 3 Claims. (Cl. 229-86) The invention relates to stationery devices in general and in particular to a self-opening pull out letter and envelope combination.

An important object of the invention is to provide a combination of a closed envelope, a letter enclosed therein and means for withdrawing the letter from the envelope while simultaneously opening the envelope.

Another important object of the invention is to provide such a combination which will result in a substantial saving of time required to open and extract mail, particularly when this mail is received in substantial quantities.

A further important object of the invention is to provide such a combination which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture and which may be used by anyone without special training.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawing, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 illustrates the parts comprising the inventive combination;

FIG. 2 illustrates the step of inserting the letter in the envelope;

FIG. 3 shows the closed envelope with the letter there- FIG. 4 is a front view of the envelope of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 shows the step of opening the envelope;

FIG. 6 shows the step of withdrawing the letter following the opening of the envelope;

FIG. 7 illustrates a modified construction of the letter and FIG. 8 illustrates still another modified construction of the letter.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, the inventive combination, generally indicated by the numeral 10, comprises a letter sheet 11 and an envelope 12. The letter, having a front side 13 and a rear side 14 is foldable inwardly towards its front side along folds 15, 16 so that it may be inserted in a folded condition in the envelope 12. A thin string 17 is secured with adhesive tape 18 part way of the fold at the sheet edge 19 to the back of the letter 11. The string 17 is somewhat longer than the width of the envelope and has an extension 20. The letter is folded inwardly of its front side along the folds 15, 16.

As shown in FIG. 2, the folded letter is next inserted in the envelope 12 in such a manner that the fold 15 of the letter lies adjacent the bottom edge 23 of the envelope and edge 19 of the letter extends inwardly along the edge 28 of said envelope, while taking care that the extension of the string protrudes outwardly of the envelope. The envelope is next sealed as shown in FIG. 3 by folding the top flap 24 over side flaps 22, so that the string extension 20 protrudes outwardly from the envelope at the intersection of the top edge of flap 24 and the edge 28 of said envelope. As further shown in FIG. 4, the corner of the front panel, opposite the intersection of the folded envelope edge 28 and the top edge of flap 24, is imprinted with a design of a thumb to indicate the position where the envelope may be grasped for opening and extracting the letter. A brief instruction legend may be added under the design such as Grasp Here.

To open the letter and extract it from the envelope, the

letter is grasped at the corner indicated by 29 between the thumb and forefinger of one hand, as shown in FIG. 5 and the string 20 is pulled by the thumb and forefinger of the other hand in the direction of the arrow thus resulting in a tear or opening 30 through which the folded letter 11 is extracted, as shown in FIG. 6.

In FIG. 7 is shown another variation of a thread whic may be of nylon having a molded knob 32 formed, for example, by sealing its end 7 and secured to the letter with fast drying acetate or nitro-cellulose glue.

Still another variation of a thread consisting of a plastic monofilament 34 which may be sealed by a suitable heating device to the letter and provided with a knot 36 at 35, is shown in FIG. 8. A thin metal wire secured by stapling or other means could likewise be used.

The threads in each instance may be red, green, or any other suitable color which will permit their easy identification.

Furthermore the envelope may be used for advertising literature of the type in which one side flap is not sealed but is folded inwardly, the so-called third class mail. In this case the folded side flap should be disposed on the envelope end opposite the folded edge 28.

The invention is not restricted to the embodiment described and illustrated above, but variations in shape, size and contents, and the container therefor may be employed without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. For example, the invention could be used for articles other than letters, such as cigarettes and the like, so that these may be extracted while simultaneously opening the container.

What I claim is:

1. A self-opening pull-out letter combination comprising a letter sheet having a front side, a rear side, upper and lower edges and side edges, said sheet being folded along a fold line extending intermediate said upper and lower edges .and parallel thereto between said side edges, a string secured to said fold line at the rear side of said sheet, an envelope having closed top, bottom and side edge portions and a face portion, said face portion being imprinted with an imprint of a thumb mark adjacent the intersection of said top edge and one of said side edge portions, said sheet being received in said envelope with said fold line adjacent said bottom edge portion and with said string extending along the other of said side edge portions interiorly of said envelope, said string having an extension protruding from said envelope adjacent the intersection of said other side edge portion and said top edge portion, said string being of nylon, the free end of the string being formed :as a molded knob, said string being secured to said fold line with fast drying acetate, whereby when the envelope is grasped at said thumb mark and said string extension is pulled transversely of said other side edge portion of the envelope, said other side edge portion is severed and the sheet is simultaneously extracted from the envelope, said sheet being provided with an additional fold line.

2. A self-opening pull-out letter combination comprising a letter sheet having a front side, a rear side, upper and lower edges and side edges, said sheet being folded along a fold line extending intermediate said upper and lower edges and parallel thereto between said side edges, a string secured to said fold line at the rear side of said sheet, an envelope having closed top, bottom and side edge portions and a face portion, said face portion being imprinted with an imprint of a thumb mark adjacent the intersection of said top edge and one of said side edge portions, said sheet being received in said envelope with said fold line adjacent said bottom edge portion and with said string extending along the other of said side edge portions interiorly of said envelope, said string having an extension protruding from said envelope adjacent the intersection of said other side edge portion and said top edge portion, said string being of nylon, the free end of the string being formed as a molded knob, said string being secured to said fold line with Intro-cellulose, whereby when the envelope is grasped at said thumb mark and said string extension is pulled transversely of said other side edge portion of the envelope, said other side edge portion is severed and the sheet is simultaneously extracted from the envelope, said sheet being provided with an additional fold line.

3. A self-opening pull-out letter combination comprising a letter sheet having a front side, a rear side, upper and lower edges and side edges, said sheet being folded along a fold line extending intermediate said upper and lower edges and parallel thereto between said side edges, said sheet being provided with an additional fold line, a string secured to said intermediate extending fold line at the rear side of said sheet, an envelope having closed top, bottom and side edge portions and a face portion, said face portion being imprinted with an imprint of a thumb mark adjacent the intersection of said top edge and one of said side edge portions, said sheet being received in said envelope With said intermediate fold line adjacent said bottom edge portion and with said string extending along the other of said side edge portions interiorly of said envelope, said string having an extension protruding from said envelope adjacent the intersection of said other side edge portion and said top edge portion, said string being of a plastic monofilament and being secured to said intermediate fold line by heat means, whereby when the envelope is grasped at said thumb mark and said string extension is pulled transversely of said other side edge portion of the envelope, said other side edge portion is severed and the sheet is simultaneously extracted from the envelope.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,702,401 2/ 2.9 Erickson 229-86 2,644,634 7/53 Weitzner 22986 FOREIGN PATENTS 472,216 9/50 Italy.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SELF-OPENING PULL-OUT LETTER COMBINATION COMPRISING A LETTER SHEET HAVING A FRONT SIDE, A REAR SIDE, UPPER AND LOWER EDGES AND SIDE EDGES, SAID SHEET BEING FOLDED ALONG A FOLD LINE EXTENDING INTERMEDIATE SAID UPPER AND LOWER EDGES AND PARALLEL THERETO BETWEEN SAID SIDE EDGES, A STRING SECURED TO SAID FOLD LINE AT THE REAR SIDE OF SAID SHEET, AN ENVELOPE HAVING CLOSED TOP, BOTTOM AND SIDE EDGE PORTIONS AND A FACE PORTION, SAID FACE PORTION BEING IMPRINTED WITH AN IMPRINT OF A THUMB MARK ADJACENT THE INTERSECTION OF SAID TOP EDGE AND ONE OF SAID SIDE EDGE PORTIONS, SAID SHEET BEING RECEIVED IN SAID ENVELOPE WITH SAID FOLD LINE ADJACENT SAID BOTTOM EDGE PORTION AND WITH SAID STRING EXTENDING ALONG THE OTHER OF SAID SIDE EDGE PORTIONS INTERIORLY OF SAID ENVELOPE, SAID STRING HAVING AN EXTENSION PROTRUDING FROM SAID ENVELOPE ADJACENT THE INTERSECTION OF SAID OTHER SIDE EDGE PORTION AND SAID TOP EDGE PORTION, SAID STRING BEING OF NYLON, THE FREE END OF THE STRING BEING FORMED AS A MOLDED KNOB, SAID STRING BEING 